Utility workers maintain the cleanliness and orderly condition of different facilities. They clean the premises, do landscaping, and regularly inspect equipment and machinery to assure they are functional. They fix what is broken, if necessary, and make sure working areas comply with safety regulations.
Utility workers use a lot of different equipment to perform their duties. They drive vehicles and operate landscaping tools and carry out physically demanding tasks as well, such as lifting or climbing.
As this is an entry-level position, you do not need specific education or extensive experience to do this job. If you follow instructions and take care of the assigned tasks to a high standard, the possibility to take over the lead of the maintenance department is there for advancement. Manufacturing sites, healthcare centers, parks, schools, transportation and commercial facilities are always welcoming utility workers to join their staff.
Utility Worker Overview
Working as a Utility Worker
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a utility worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.28 an hour? That's $27,621 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 85,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Utility Worker Do
There are certain skills that many utility workers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, dexterity and troubleshooting skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a utility worker, we found that a lot of resumes listed 28.3% of utility workers included customer service, while 22.1% of resumes included safety procedures, and 10.2% of resumes included kitchen utensils. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the utility worker job title. But what industry to start with? Most utility workers actually find jobs in the manufacturing and hospitality industries.
How To Become a Utility Worker
If you're interested in becoming a utility worker, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 13.9% of utility workers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.8% of utility workers have master's degrees. Even though some utility workers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a utility worker. When we researched the most common majors for a utility worker, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on utility worker resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a utility worker. In fact, many utility worker jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many utility workers also have previous career experience in roles such as sales associate or warehouse worker.
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Utility Worker Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of machine operator you might progress to a role such as driver eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title superintendent.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Utility Worker
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Albemarle County Service Authority Utility Worker I Utility Worker I | Albemarle County Service Authority Albemarle County Service Authority | 01/31/2021 01/31/2021 | $32,47201/31/2021 $32,472 |
City of Eagan Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Worker-Utilities-Seasonal Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Worker-Utilities-Seasonal | City of Eagan City of Eagan | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $29,53101/30/2021 $29,531 |
San Jacinto Unified School District Custodian I/Utility Worker, Facilities & Operations (DAY PM) Custodian I/Utility Worker, Facilities & Operations (DAY PM) | San Jacinto Unified School District San Jacinto Unified School District | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $36,41801/30/2021 $36,418 |
True Value Utility Worker-1St. Shift Utility Worker-1St. Shift | True Value True Value | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $29,21801/30/2021 $29,218 |
The Bergaila Companies Water/Wastewater Utility Worker Water/Wastewater Utility Worker | The Bergaila Companies The Bergaila Companies | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $31,30501/29/2021 $31,305 |
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Utility Worker Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Utility Worker. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Utility Worker Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Utility Worker resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Skills For a Utility Worker
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 28.3% of utility workers listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and dexterity are important as well.
- Customer Service, 28.3%
- Safety Procedures, 22.1%
- Kitchen Utensils, 10.2%
- Food Service, 5.1%
- Safety Standards, 2.6%
- Other Skills, 31.7% See All Utility Worker Skills
Best States For a Utility Worker
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a utility worker. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Minnesota, Washington, and California. Utility workers make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $42,285. Whereas in Minnesota and Washington, they would average $38,468 and $36,850, respectively. While utility workers would only make an average of $36,760 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Minnesota
$38,468
Avg. Salary
2. Alaska
$42,286
Avg. Salary
3. Nevada
$35,249
Avg. Salary
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